{"id":237281,"date":"2024-06-13T16:25:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T10:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=237281"},"modified":"2024-06-23T00:02:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T18:32:30","slug":"an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/","title":{"rendered":"An Efficient Train System Should Be The Number One Public Transport Priority"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>By <a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Deshika+Mendis\">Deshika Mendis<\/a> &#8211;<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">I write this because I love travelling by train and am very sad about the condition of Sri Lanka Railways and train travel in this beautiful island. In recent times, several of my planned train trips had to be cancelled causing great inconvenience due to sudden train service disruptions, including derailments, breakdowns and cancellations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-183241\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka-128x86.jpg 128w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/>Train travel is both cheap and environment friendly. Trains carry a large number of passengers and hence cause lower Carbon emissions per capita than do cars. Public Transport, in general is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly for a country in a Debt trap and IMF austerity program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Rather than <span class=\"s1\">rushing to buy expensive Electric Vehicles (EVs), for a costly Green Energy Transition promoted by various United Nations Agencies and Greenwash Corporations, <\/span>the GOSL should urgently make Public Transport, particularly, investing in and upgrading the Sri Lanka Railways a top development priority at this time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Several studies have shown that labour force participation, particularly of women, increases when there is good public transport available<\/span>. Of course, the Sri Lanka Railways that started operating in the 1850s still carries out a valuable service to the nation but it could be far more efficient, effective, modern, and passenger friendly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">There is an urgent need for a reliable train service to better serve passengers, whether occasional travelers or daily commuters, in addition to upgrading and maintenance of many stations with a high volume of passengers, such as the Colombo Fort station.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>Out of Action: Yal Devi from Colombo to Jaffna<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Colombo-Jaffna Yal Devi Train has not been running since January this year due to purported construction of the Railway line between Mahawa and Anurdhapura. Passengers are forced to take private coaches instead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Maho-Anuradhapura stretch constitutes 67 killometers of the 405 Km Colombo-Jaffna trip. Should this railway line upgrade, which just one sixth of the entire Colombo Jaffna route, take so long and are they now using the absolutely predictable arrival of the South West Monsoon Rains in May to further delay this construction and the operation of the Yal Devi?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Last year when a friend and I tried to take the early morning train from Batticaloa back to Colombo it was suddenly cancelled. We discarded the tickets and hired a car for our trip back to Colombo.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>So too, last year, my one and only train journey on the Kandy Intercity Express train from Colombo to the University of Peradeniya had to be aborted when a lorry purportedly got stuck across the train tracks and the Intercity express train was delayed by 4 hours. I was unable to reach the meeting on time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>High Number of Incidents, Erosion of Public Trust, a Push to Privatization?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Given the incredible list of seemingly small and random train accidents and incidents (listed below), in the past few months that appeared in major newspapers, the question arises do these amount to a pattern?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Are there subtle attempts to sabotage the Sri Lanka Railways (SLR), damage passenger confidence, reduce the number of passengers and the SLR\u2019s profits and then privatize it?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Sri Lanka National Railway has extensive and valuable lands.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>Reducing Train Passenger Volumes and Marketing EVs<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">In the wake of the economically devastating two years of Covid-19 Lockdown and Economic Meltdown when the Railways was shut down and infrastructure crumbled, there appears to be (hybrid) attempts to sabotage train travel, reduce passenger volumes and privatize Sri Lanka Railways. SLR also has a lot of valuable state lands that are being targeted in the IMF fire-sale?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Recall that the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), project which was aborted in 201r had targeted the Sri Lanka Railways, also with a proposal for a train track from the BIA International Airport in the Southwest of strategic Sri Lanka to the Trincomalee Harbour on the North East Coast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Disruption of Sri Lanka Railways at this time appear be both internally and externally driven: These include strikes and labour union activities and actions or inaction of other railway employees. There have also been apparently random incidents of lorries running into train infrastructure or trees falling across railway lines, as well as, staged climate \u2018disasters\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Given the high number of disruption in the Railway services which appear to form a pattern, it is incumbent on the Minister of Transport to conduct an inquiry and analysis of the entire railway system and infrastructure in a systematic fashion.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>So too, should not the head of SLR take note of and act upon the regular disruptions and delays of the Sri Lanka Railways, also given the inconvenience caused to Passengers?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Please see below a random sample from the national newspapers of incidents that have caused delay and disruption of Sri Lanka Railway services in the past months and make your own assessments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>June 13, 2023 <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Derailment disrupts train services on coastal line <\/b>June 13, 2024 (<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adaderana.lk\/news.php?nid=99852\">Ada Derana News<\/a><\/em><\/span>)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">A slow train plying from Panadura to Maradana has derailed near the Panadura railway station, disrupting services on the coastal line, Sri Lanka Railways announced. Accordingly, the trains operating on the coastal line will experience delays, according to Sri Lanka Railways.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">One of the compartments of the derailed train has collided with a nearby railway signal board, causing a complete breakdown of the railway signaling system in the area. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Sri Lanka Railways stated that it will take a considerable amount of time to restore the railway line for regular train operations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">June 9, 2024<\/span><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>Ongoing Railway Strike disrupts Services<\/b><\/span>\u00a0(<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/breaking-news\/Ongoing-railway-strike-disrupts-services-cancels-48-trains\/108-284426\">Daily Mirror<\/a><\/em><\/span>) &#8211; A total of 35 trains were canceled this morning due to the ongoing strike by the Sri Lanka Railways Locomotive Operating Engineers\u2019 Union.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">05 Jun 2024<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Train services delayed due to derailment <\/b>(<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.themorning.lk\/articles\/3gtfDsTVuEJX7bIVT15G\">The Morning Newspaper<\/a><\/em><\/span>)\u00a0Train services between Colombo Fort and Maradana were delayed due to a derailment today (5), according to the Department of Railways Accordingly, due to the derailment, the train services will operate with a considerable delay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>June 2, 2024<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Bridge collapse disrupts Kelani Valley Railway Services <\/b><em>(<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymirror.lk\/breaking-news\/Bridge-collapse-disrupts-Kelani-Valley-railway-services\/108-283908\">Daily Mirror<\/a><\/span>) <\/em>&#8211; Train services on the Kelani Valley line have been severely disrupted following the collapse of a bridge between Waga and Kosgama. The collapse has forced Sri Lanka Railways to limit train operations on the line to Waga station.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>May 25, 2024<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><b><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"> \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Fallen trees and signal failures continue to disrupt train services:<\/strong> (<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adaderana.lk\/news.php?nid=99431\">Ada Derana News<\/a><\/em><\/span>) The night mail trains to and from Badulla and other special trains on the up-country line have been cancelled today (25) due to trees and rocks falling onto the tracks, Sri Lanka Railways announced.Meanwhile, Deputy General Manager of Railways, N.J. Indipolage, stated that over 15 incidents of trees falling on to the rail tracks have been reported so far.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Additionally, power interruptions have caused critical issues in maintaining the railway signaling system, especially beyond Nanu Oya railway station, he added. The Department of Railways also urged motorists to be vigilant while driving across railway crossings, as signal failures are possible at level crossings due to power breakdowns. Drivers are advised to be cautious when crossing level crossings if there is no signal or if the electric bells continue to ring with only a red signal at the crossings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>April 24, 2024<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Train Services Disrupted on Mainline<\/strong> (<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hirunews.lk\/english\/366516\/train-services-disrupted-on-main-line\">Hiru News<\/a><\/em><\/span>)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Train services on the mainline have been disrupted following a breakdown of a train from Mahawa to Colombo at Ambepussa according to the Railway department. The Incident has led to delays and cancellations affecting commuters on this route<\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>March 21, 2024<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\">Train derailment disrupts coastal line operations in Sri Lanka (March 20 (Xinhua) &#8212; Sri Lanka&#8217;s Railway Department had to cancel 18 trains on Wednesday morning in the country&#8217;s coastal line due to the derailment of a train between Colombo Fort and Kompannaveediya railway stations on Tuesday evening, a senior official said.<b><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>January 15, 2024<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Train on upcountry line derailed<b> <\/b>January (<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.lk\/2024\/01\/15\/admin-catagories\/breaking-news\/347567\/train-on-upcountry-line-derailed\/\">Daily News<\/a><\/em><\/span>)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The special express train operating from Badulla to Kandy has derailed.The train has been derailed between the Nanu Oya and Great Western railway stations, the Department of Railways said.<b><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>December 9, 2023 <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Trains between Colombo and Jaffna to be suspended for 6 months (<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newswire.lk\/2023\/12\/09\/trains-between-colombo-and-jaffna-to-be-suspended-for-6-months\/\">News Wire<\/a><\/em><\/span>)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Sri Lanka Railways department has announced the temporary suspension of train services between Colombo and Jaffna\/ Kankasenthurai due to maintenance work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Issuing a notice, the railway department said that the 2nd phase of the scheduled maintenance work in the northern railway line will be carried out between Mahawa and Anuradhapura Railway Stations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The maintenance work will be carried out from 7th January 2024 and expected to be completed within a period of 6 months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Therefore, the department has announced that during this period trains will be running from Colombo Fort to Mahawa Railway station and from Kankesanthurai to Anuradhapura only (NewsWire)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">WHEN WILL THE YAL DEVI TRAIN BETWEEN COLOMBO AN JAFFNA START RUNNING?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Should train-track repairs take so long? What are the SL Railway Authorities upto?!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2731,"featured_media":183241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>An Efficient Train System Should Be The Number One Public Transport Priority - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Efficient Train System Should Be The Number One Public Transport Priority - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-13T10:55:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-22T18:32:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deshika Mendis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deshika Mendis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/\",\"name\":\"An Efficient Train System Should Be The Number One Public Transport Priority - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-13T10:55:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-22T18:32:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/90f1bf5c7f1b1e50621becf0f6a9e719\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Efficient Train System Should Be The Number One Public Transport Priority\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/90f1bf5c7f1b1e50621becf0f6a9e719\",\"name\":\"Deshika Mendis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/19adad6021c0394cb6c7aec0ffbb9023b9b4c31ca1ae8891b969cf78839f876d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/19adad6021c0394cb6c7aec0ffbb9023b9b4c31ca1ae8891b969cf78839f876d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deshika Mendis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/demen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Efficient Train System Should Be The Number One Public Transport Priority - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Efficient Train System Should Be The Number One Public Transport Priority - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2024-06-13T10:55:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-22T18:32:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Deshika Mendis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deshika Mendis","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/","name":"An Efficient Train System Should Be The Number One Public Transport Priority - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg","datePublished":"2024-06-13T10:55:45+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-22T18:32:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/90f1bf5c7f1b1e50621becf0f6a9e719"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg","width":750,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-efficient-train-system-should-be-the-number-one-public-transport-priority\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Efficient Train System Should Be The Number One Public Transport Priority"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/90f1bf5c7f1b1e50621becf0f6a9e719","name":"Deshika Mendis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/19adad6021c0394cb6c7aec0ffbb9023b9b4c31ca1ae8891b969cf78839f876d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/19adad6021c0394cb6c7aec0ffbb9023b9b4c31ca1ae8891b969cf78839f876d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Deshika Mendis"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/demen\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/railway-strike-sri-lanka.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2731"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237281"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237389,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237281\/revisions\/237389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}